Officials from Guildford City FC and the borough council say they have thrashed out a new partnership at the Spectrum leisure centre.

The council bosses insist that they share City chairman Shahid Azeem’s vision and want to help the Combined Counties League outfit climb up the non-league ladder.

It means the club will remain at their council-owned home with a “six-figure” timetable of improvements planned for the arena.

Azeem - who plans to apply for a Football Foundation grant to help fund the work - will now abandon his groundshare plans with Blue Square Premier side Woking.

Because of that the Cards may now miss out on lucrative spin-offs, but Azeem explained: “I had to take this decision quickly. Hopefully it will still be possible for us to get round the table in the future.”

Frustrated in his previous attempts to revisit Guildford City’s Southern League heyday, he has been a fierce critic of the local authority.

"Right for Guildford"

But he is adamant that the squabbling is over and is looking ahead with optimism. “It’s great news all round,” he said.

“Before we had this meeting I was thinking ‘Where do we go from here?’.

“I needed to show my vision that we do have a future here and somewhere to go if we win the league next year.”

After breaking news of the latest developments to player-manager Scott Steele, the City committee and members at the club’s annual meeting, an excited Azeem admitted: “They were absolutely astounded that we have got something here.

“It is right for Guildford. It has a big population, huge numbers of kids and adults are involved in football at weekends here and to have this club here for them hopefully to aspire to play for is fantastic.”

The plan of action is expected to include new turnstiles, a clubhouse, dressing rooms, toilets, dugouts and improved seating capacity, while Azeem has ideas too to help improve the quality of the notorious Spectrum pitch.

It all means that if City can repeat the on-field successes that saw them finish runners-up in the CCL Premier Division last season, they can at last anticipate promotion to the next level.